Pros And Cons Of Using Native American Mascots

The author Tex G. Hall is explaining Native American team sports mascots are racist. He is testifying for many other people as well. He makes a very sensible are you and uses the motion and great facts facts. The way his argument is structured is very engaging. He first off thanks many people for bringing this controversy to everyone 's attention.

The NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association, declared 10 years ago that using native imagery to promote sports teams is hostile and offensive and put 18 schools on a notice that a change would be required to participate in the NCAA. The Washington Redskins also face several protests, political stress, and legal involvement over their logo but the Chicago Blackhawks are unbothered. There is no doubt that the Chicago Blackhawks logo is one of the most recognizable logos in America. It is unfair that other organizations have had to change their logos or are under the process of changing their logos and the Blackhawks have not. However, some people need to realize how costly it would be to change the logo.

They have made their decision on the mascot and they are going to change it but they don’t know what it will be. They are now starting to offer courses on the Native American culture and its heritage. The school board has suggested to have the school change to Prentup High School to honor Frank Prentup. The change will hurt the budget for changing the mascot. They will have to change uniforms on jerseys, the football field, the band war chant for all games and change the buses that have the Indian mascot on it that the players go on to the games.

Jay Rosentein took a look at the long time practice of honoring Native American’s as mascots and team names in sports whether professional levels or college teams. He gives us insight that it is not only about using the natives as mascots but the issue at hand of racism, minority representation and stereotypes. This film is more than the practice of utilizing Indians as mascots, it is about culture identity and how we should all change to make a difference. In this documentary we follow Charlene Teters, the leader some have called her the Rosa Parks of Native Americans and her struggles to protect her identity and cultural symbols.

We show pride in our sports team, right? We all love going to the Friday night games and cheering with the school mascot. Is using Indian mascots truly inappropriate or is it just showing honor? Using Native American images and names in professional, collegiate and high school sports team does not reinforce and perpetuate stereotypes because it is not harming them; these teams is merely showing gratification for their cultures.

“If you ask, the answers are pretty clear: that the images are an inaccurate conception of Native Americans that’s from the past, that confines a group of peoples that is active, and has communities, and is very much alive and well today, as an artifact, rather than as a present group” (“When the School Mascot Is a Native American Stereotype”). This evidence proves that Native American groups say that the natives from the past and now are different and that the assumptions are wrong. All of these mascots make people assume the worst of the natives, and their lifestyles. These mascots are invading the natives and other cultures' way of life and are offensive to

The honoring through recognition that these non-Indians seek to achieve is not attainable through faint attempts to misrepresent a culture they barely know. In I’m Indian Too!: Claiming Native American Identity, Crafting Authority in Mascot Debates by Charles Springwood, “the mascot protesters who claim Indianness are staging what is perhaps a novel form of anti-Indianism because their claims are designed to silence what may be a common, if not majority opinion, among Native Americans about the uses and abuses of Indian imagery in contemporary American movement.” Native Americans who protest the use of these symbols in sports media see the opinions of non-Indians as uncreditable because they are rooted out of emotion and the defense of societal comfort. The fans of these teams love their mascots and these symbols are what has brought our team together, but do not understand how they offend the heritage of those that they falsely represent and bring little honor

Teams at any level of competition, in every sport, have a mascot. The mascot is essentially what represents the competitive spirt and identifies the team, motivating both fans, coaches, and players. Although, the symbol chosen as a mascot does not have an impact on number of wins nor loses. The choice of a Native American mascot continues to initiate debate and controversy among fans, alumni, and athletes today. More specifically, the debate over the controversy surround the Washington Redskin football team.

In many major league sports such as the NFL and the MLB use Native Americans as Mascot. One of the teams in the NFL and MLB have been using Native Americans mascot for decades, and many people and organizations have tried to bring the controversy to light, but have been ignored. This controversy has been happening in some schools in the United States as well as in Canada, and it still continues. The well-known team that uses Native American mascot is by the Washington redskins in the NFL. The Native American see the term “Redskins” as a very offensive word and racist.

Symbolism especially with animals played a huge part in the Native American religion party. Native American religion is something hard to define. In order for you to understand the meaning of their religion you have to grow up submersed in the beliefs,practices, and know the traditions of any tribe. It’s something really different, it isn’t the same as becoming a born-again Christian or converting to judaism. Each tribute and peoples had their own unique beliefs,legends, and rituals, but they all believed the world was filled with spirits.

I decided to start a conversation about the use of Native Americans as logos for sports teams. I have always had strong opinions on this topic because, even as I child, I could see that this practice was offensive. My first memory of this topic was in middle school when another team in our area used American Indians as their mascot, and my sister and I thought it was weird that they’d use people instead of animals. As I have come to read more and more about this topic, I find it hard to believe some people would actually be okay with using an entire culture for the purpose of making a joke of them.

The Indian mascot was originally designed to render tribute to Native Americans, not as a racial symbol. In the past forty years, changing the name backfired, and citizens began taking offense to the name because they felt like the name represented the color of Native American’s skin. Nevertheless, many fans, including Native Americans, do not consider the name or the mascot to be degrading or racial. Fans of the Washington Redskins participated in a poll that reveals, “77 percent reject changing the name” while in another poll “71 percent of NFL fans did not find the Redskins name offensive” (Lingebach 2). Clearly, from the results of the two polls, many fans would be unhappy if the Redskins’ name were to be changed.

I came to a higher understanding of the importance of respecting someone’s culture and heritage after reading this week’s assignments. Unfortunately, the ignorance around us does not allow us to visualize the harm cause on Native Americans. For instance, I am no sports fan but have seen the logos and mascots of many teams in which American Indian’s figures and languages are used. It was not until today that I sympathize with many American Indians who are offended with those images and slangs. My ignorance was not as a participant in this behavior but of an individual unaware of the situation.

We can 't forget our founders. As Lydia Huntley Sigourney sites in one of her poems "Indian Names", "how can the red men be forgotten, while so many of our states and territories, bays, lakes, and rivers, are indelibly stamped by names of their giving?” That is a perfect example of how not only sports teams use representable names of such but also our land and different dominions are named after Native Americans. Nudging out sports teams in such way isn 't fair when it 's being used for other entities, and pulls out the irony from

First the majority of American Indians aren’t offended so it's not like the Redskins have the whole world against them and there are also some American Indians who do feel offended. Since this debate has like a 50/50 outcome the Washington Redskins National Football team will always be debatable. The Washington Redskins has received some consequences for being stubborn about the name change and not changing it. The U.S. patent office has cancelled the Redskins trademark. The trademark protects the particular name of the product to avoid confusion.